mucuri cobogó

The Mucuri Cobogó is born from the unease with excess and from the beauty that endures in what is discarded. Developed within the Master’s in Industrial and Product Design at the University of Porto, in partnership with TCC Whitestone / MAAMI Home, the project proposes a new production logic in which waste ceases to be an end and becomes raw material for a new beginning.

The piece uses marble powder, slurry, and stone fragments discarded after processing — a common by-product in the Portuguese stone industry. These residues are transformed through a manual molding process, without the need for firing, resulting in an architectural object with low environmental impact.

Inspired by modernist cobogós, perforated elements that balance light, shadow, and ventilation, the Mucuri Cobogó merges references from Brazilian vernacular design with the Portuguese industrial reality. The result is a piece that functions both functionally and symbolically, opening space for reflection on sustainability, material memory, and the role of design in transforming production systems.